Council PTA wants Midlanders to “Back the Future”

Published 6:20 pm, Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Midland Council PTA is encouraging the community to “Back the Future” as a part of the Texas PTA initiative to increase awareness and membership in the organization.

Council President Dee Dee Caputo said the campaign aims to encourage Texans, whether they have children in school or not, to be members of PTA.

“We’re trying to help the community realize that by joining PTA, what you’re saying is that you back the future, you support education and you’re letting the legislators in the Capitol know how important education is to our state,” Caputo said. “The membership numbers for PTA have dropped every year and it gets lower and lower.”

The citywide Council PTA wants to double its membership for the upcoming year, which Caputo said she considers possible given that Midland ISD has a student body of more than 23,000 and growing. PTAs in MISD grew by a total of 100 members from 2012-13 to 2013-14, she said, which means there’s room for improvement.

Midland Council PTA is partnering with Ector County’s council to raise awareness throughout the Permian Basin, Caputo said. The two councils will hold a joint press conference at the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center at 10 a.m. Aug. 28 in order to increase awareness of the “Back the Future” campaign.

Each individual school’s PTA sets the dues for its organization, but most are between $7 and $10, Caputo said. PTAs generally meet once a month. Every MISD school has a PTA except for Burnet Elementary School, but Council hopes to help parents launch one, she said.

Joining PTA doesn’t have to be a major time commitment or like taking on a second job, Caputo said. Volunteers can give as much time as they choose and if and when they choose to do so.

Caputo also announced the campaign at MISD’s new teacher orientation on Aug. 11, encouraging teachers to ask parents to get involved in their classrooms. She suggested having sign-up sheets with information about volunteer opportunities and recruiting at back-to-school or meet-the- teacher events.